Poor F-Gas compliance standards on many commercial refrigeration and air conditioning sites fall short of mandatory requirements, according to cooling specialist Cool-Therm. The company says this may expose end users to the risk of possible legal action.

BSRIA has launched a new White Paper on 'Bridging the Skills Gap', posing the question 'What does our industry need from government to recruit new entrants, upskill the existing workforce and change the diversity of the workforce?'

CIPHE is advising landlords that the need to provide a 'Legionnaires Testing Certificate' for their properties is not a requirement of the revised L8 ACOP, after receiving reports that some letting agents and consultants are asking for them.

The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), has warned that landlords are erroneously being asked by letting agents and consultants to provide a Legionnaires’ testing certificate for their properties.

To help installers meet the heat metering requirements of the government’s non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), B&ES Publications has revised its Guide to Good Practice: Heat Metering for the RHI to reflect the changes to the scheme and to incorporate some of the lessons learned.

Skills shortages contributing to a slowdown in the construction sector in July pose a ‘serious challenge’ not only to the industry but the economy as a whole, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has called on the government to show flexibility on the grace period for implementing planned cuts to financial support for renewables to include all projects already in the planning process, warning it may face legal action if it does not.

Will Davies of property maintenance firm aspect.co.uk has warned the government to take note of the increasing number of young skilled British workers from the construction industry moving to New Zealand in search for a new life and better working conditions.

The Green Deal Finance Company has announced that it will cease accepting applications for new Green Deal Plans with immediate effect. This is to ensure that sufficient funds exist to support those applications that have been lodged in recent weeks and are already being processed.

Rising activity in the SME construction sector threatens to be undermined by the prevailing skills shortage, warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), despite the fact that the building industry has been booming for more than two years.

Proposals for a new Small Business Commissioner to lead a culture change in how small businesses resolve disputes with larger companies have been set out by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills.

Further funding to the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) has been cut and there will be no further releases of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF), the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) announced on 22 July.

In light of low take-up and concerns about industry standards there will be no further funding to the Green Deal Finance Company, in a move to protect taxpayers, the Department for Energy & Climate Change announced on 23 July.

Almost nine out of 10 people in the UK could be spending hundreds of pounds more than they need to on their heating bills simply because of the hardness of their water, according to a survey by YouGov.

More than 200 businesses from the construction, property and renewable energy industries have urged the Chancellor to reconsider the government's sudden U-turn over the long-established zero carbon homes policy.

The government’s decision not to proceed with the zero carbon homes scheme and complementary Allowable Solutions programme is an "oversight" that leaves developers “standing at the edge of a cliff” as they face delivering near-zero carbon homes to comply with a 2019 EU Directive, according to boiler manufacturer Baxi.

Two fifths of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the construction sector say that the most positive action the new government could take to benefit their company would be to reduce excessive regulation.